[WATCH] Labour insists Simon Busuttil should walk the talk

Labour Party says Opposition leader should apply same yardstick with his MPs

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and backbencher Silvio Schembri
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and backbencher Silvio Schembri
Labour Party says Opposition leader should apply same yardstick with his MPs

The Labour Party has called on Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to walk the talk and apply the same yardstick with his parliamentary group. In a press conference addressed by justice minister Owen Bonnici and backbencher Silvio Schembri, the PL insisted that Busuttil was not in a position to continue shifting standards when his own people are involved.

“Simon Busuttil has on several occasions equated entities incorporated in offshore jurisdictions, like the British Virgin Islands, to corruption. What is his position on Tonio Fenech now?” Bonnici asked, as he encouraged Busuttil to exercise the same standards he preaches with his own people within the party.

Fenech holds non-executive positions in companies, two of which are Malta-based subsidiaries to ownerships registered in the British Virgin Islands and Jersey. But Fenech denies that his services are directly offered to any offshore companies.

Fenech also has shared directorships in three separate companies with two former CEOs and a former chairman of the Bank of Valletta.

Pointing out that Fenech was the minister for finance under the previous administration, Schembri said this was of particular concern: “Is there a coincidence in their business links with Fenech?”

Bonnici added that if he were to use the same standards he judged the Labour Party by, he would have made sure that Fenech resigned by now. He questioned what Busuttil's course of action would be and how he proposed to remain credible.

Schembri also pointed out that this hadn't been the first occasion when Busuttil had not taken action against members of his parliamentary group. He made particular reference to PN executive Ann Fenech and her legal firm's services to offshore companies, as well as deputy leader Mario de Marco, who had works done on his property for free by a contractor embroiled in the Panama Papers scandal.